IRON ore magnate Andrew Forrest’s Mindaroo Group is looking to the public purse to possibly help redevelop its newly-leased Indiana restaurant on Cottesloe Beach.
“This is a Minderoo Group-led initiative, however we recognise that in the past the State Government has expressed an interest in contributing for the benefit of the State,” the group’s spokeswoman said, when asked who would pay for the redevelopment.
Asked to clarify if the restaurant, a nearby ocean pool, new grass terraces or seawalls could be publicly funded, the spokeswoman said it was not a specific part of the site, but recognition the Government wanted to optimise “community benefit”.
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READ NOWThe group will now ask the public to give 12 architects ideas on how to redevelop the restaurant, after the council agreed Mr Forrest’s company Perth Venues take over the lease for $195,000 a year from Melbourne’s Red Rock Leisure last week.
The Mindaroo Group spokeswoman said it had been interested in the restaurant for several years because it needed “a re-invigorated offering worthy of its surrounds”.
Asked if demolition could be considered, she said the community’s vision would drive the invited architects’ designs.
The previous government built public attractions at Scarborough Beach, but other than saying funds for a Cottesloe shark barrier could be considered, Premier Mark McGowan has only criticised a lack of improvements and higher buildings on that town’s foreshore.
Asked about the Indiana’s redevelopment, Tourism Minister Paul Papalia’s spokeswoman said no proposal had come from Mindaroo, and Planning Minister Rita Saffioti’s spokesman said there was no record of the Government statements claimed by the group.
Indiana director Chris Taylor would not comment on the lease’s changeover date because talks continued with Perth Venues.
Send redesign submissions to www.minderoogroup.com/indiana.